Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of France, today, Saturday, in protest against the National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen. Trade unions, left-wing parties and associations called for a “massive wave of people.” Thus, they want to prevent another victory for Le Pen’s party during the upcoming parliamentary elections.
According to the police, at least 250,000 demonstrators participated in the protests, including 75,000 in Paris. In turn, the left-wing CGT union says that 250,000 people were on their feet in Paris alone. The union said it counted a total of 640,000 demonstrators.
The protests began around 2 p.m. and were largely peaceful. according to Parisian A number of minor accidents occurred. For example, police were pelted with bottles in Paris, and in Rennes, western France, police repelled a number of protesters with tear gas. Four people were arrested during the demonstrations.
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About two hundred demonstrations are scheduled to take place across France this weekend, in response to the huge victory achieved by Le Pen’s party in the European elections. The party received at least 31.4 percent of the votes. Following the result of that election, President Emmanuel Macron – who lost heavily – announced new national elections.
Once again, the National Front is performing well in the polls for that election. The party is expected to obtain 33% of the votes, which is a much higher percentage than the coalition of leftist parties, which obtained 25%. Macron’s party will not receive more than 20 percent.